Transcript Islami Usool Ki Philosophy
Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam
A book of The Promised Messiah (a.s.) Written for, and read out at, the Conference of Great Religions, 26-29 December 1896, at Town Hall, Lahore Presentation at:
16th National Ta`limul Qur`an Class , Baitul Islam,Toronto, 10-12 August 2007 By:
Dr. Saleem Rahman 1
2
Five Questions
1.
2.
3.
What are the Physical, Moral, and Spiritual States of Man?
[This World]
What is the State of Man After Death?
[Next World]
What the Purpose of Man’s Life and How does one Achieve this Purpose?
[This World]
4.
How do the Teachings of Shariah impact a man in (a) this life, and (b) the next life?
[This World] & [Next World]
5. What are the Sources of Acquiring the Knowledge and Perception of the Divine?
[This World]
3
Question No. 1
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5
6
Faculty of
Reason
;
Wisdom
;
Perceptive-Knowledge
;
Moderation Cleansing
oneself from all
“earthly” motivations
for one’s actions 7
8
Three States of Man’s “Ego” and their Relationship with Man’s Physical, Moral and Spiritual Conditions •
“ The Ego That Incites to Do Evil ”
bends one to follow
evil
thoughts and actions. •
Definition of “Evil”:
Everything that is opposite to the path that will lead one to maximize one’s potential as a human being.
• This is man’s
Physical Condition
(and “ animalistic exists before one rises to the
Moral Condition
.
state”) that • Faculty of Reason ; Wisdom ; Perceptive Knowledge ; Moderation cause
Physical Condition Moral Condition
•
Cleansing
causes oneself from all
Moral Condition “earthly” motivations
for one’s actions
Spiritual Condition
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• A set of very close relationships man’s
Natural Condition
exists between and his
Moral Condition
and
Spiritual Condition
• Different kinds of food and drink items one’s Moral and Spiritual Conditions also affect • If Natural Conditions are
harnessed
by subjected to) the teachings of Shari’ah, (and these Natural Conditions are transformed into Moral Conditions and, in turn they have a deep impact on one’s Spiritual Condition.
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•
Effect of various Food and Drink items
on one’s mental • and emotional states. Meat-eaters
Moderation
vs.
Vegetarians in the choice of food (meat and vegetables) lead to a good balance between the mental and emotional aspects of one’s personality. “Eat and drink, but don’t be immoderate!” 11
12
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Body
&
Soul
of
Humans
and their
Actions
• Soul / Spirit is hidden
earliest form of our (or embedded) within the physical development — it is
not
imported from outside the body
[ e.g.
flint stone] Fire “hidden” in a
•
Analogy
:
Sincere human actions “hidden spirit /soul”,
“outward body” of those actions. also have which resides within the
a
• This “
Soul / Spirit
” gradually becomes apparent along with the continued development of the physical aspects of that human action. • Now, the “movement” of Spiritual “Life” begins!
14
• Since this all infusion of Spiritual Life
the forces created by God
is
from God
, therefore are instructed (or are “pre programmed”) to be
helpers
of such a spiritually “re-born” person; except the
Satanic elements
who are opposed to him 15
The Holy Qur’an’s Three Methods of Reform
1. From “Animalistic” Human to Moral Human 2. From Moral Human to Godly Human 16
• The Holy Qur’an transforms one from the Physical Condition (“ animalistic ” human) to a Moral Being , using
moderation
, and then to a Spiritual Being
Creator
having
Full Devotion to the
( negation of one’s “self” ) — called “Islam” — (2:113) 17
• Teaching
Civilized Behavior
the “ animal ” in humans ) in the social context ( taming • After “graduating” in Civilized Behavior, teaching the methods of
Advanced Moral Conduct
.
• Turning these “dry scholars” of morality into active practitioners of
Applied Moral Conduct
— leading them to have a
Loving Communion with God Almighty.
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• • •
Outward
Physical acts applied sense): “
Kha l’q
” (motivated by natural, unrefined, desires in the
Inward
“spiritual” Attributes (in the absolute sense): “
Khoo l’q
”
The Holy Prophet
(68:5)
s.a.w
: “And you surely possess high moral excellences.” 19
•
Two Aspects of Morals :
– (i)
Avoidance of Inflicting Harm
to someone’s life, honor, and property (when one was capable of doing such harm) – (ii)
Doing Good
, or
Providing Beneficial Help
life, honor, and property (or, at least,
intend
to someone’s to do that) being mindful of the
time
and
place
of such conduct.
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• •
Justice (
Ad’l
)
:
(1) (2)
Someone does you a “Good Turn” In return, you also do him an “equal” amount of Good Turn
Taking Initiative to do Good to Others is of (1)
a higher level
(
Ehsaan
than just “
Ad’l
” and
): Doing good to others that
(2) Do it without their asking for it
Doing Good to Others
with such Passion
Close-Relatives
: (
Ee’taa-e-Zil-Qur’ba
)
“as if” they were your Case-1: Case-2:
Not Doing Good that is “Out-of-Place” or “Misapplied” (“
Mun’kar
”) Not Doing Good to others, “like they were relatives”, to an appropriate degree, whether falling short or being excessive (“
Bagh’zh”
) 21
Discarding Evil 1.
2.
3.
4.
Chastity
(remaining pure of all approaches to sexual misconduct, when you have the capacity to misuse your faculties powers)
Integrity
and
Honesty
(being unwilling to take wrongful possession of someone else’s wealth, property, etc.)
Refraining from causing physical hurt or pain
to anyone; being a person without mischief; living your life peacefully with everyone
Cheerfulness
and
Courteous
/
Polite Manner
and
Talk
.
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Doing Good • • • •
Forgiveness
(forgiving someone’s transgression against you)
Justice
(returning of goodness) someone’s good turn with an equal degree
Taking Initiative in Doing a Good Turn
to Someone (without being asked for it)
Doing Good to Others
with such Passion
your Close-Relatives “as if” they were
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• The righteous believers (in the Hereafter) will drink from cups that will be filled from a spring
which (spring) they are digging up right now
, in this world (i.e.
in this life
),
with their own hands
. • This verse
refers to a deep secret of the philosophy of what Paradise really is
. Whoever wants to understand it, here is the broad hint! •
You are creating your own record
(good or bad)
by your own daily actions. Everything counts!
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• •
Real Bravery
: Constrained by (a) Time and (b) Place occasion] [situation and – Personal Bravery : Overcoming personal ‘desires’/passions; combating a hardship, to gain Allah’s approval of this brave conduct – Helping in defense of Truth (truthful stand) — not due to one’s perception of
one’s own resources and powers Allah’s Help
in this endeavor .
but based on one’s trust in receiving
Real Truthfulness
: Constrained by (a) Time and (b) Place [situation and occasion]. Telling the truth where it may hurt yourself or your dear ones. Giving up those “egoistic reasons/causes” that make you tell lies 25
•
Real Patience
(Forbearance): Restraint in the face of provocation or hardship. – This does not mean – It means was only a trust ( the Almighty , loud protests and verbal outburst in the beginning and (after one gets exhausted) then becoming quiet (and thinking that this is “Sab’r”, or Patience.
: When you lose something/someone then, affirming that “It
aam’aanat
) from God”, one must not complain. Rather, make a prayerful recourse to Him (Whose is its true Owner, i.e. Allah ) and be contented, while waiting for the acceptance of prayer (whatever the outcome) •
Real Service to Mankind
: No blind “nationalism”, at all costs. – –
Help
your own people
Do not help only in matters of
them in matters of
sin
righteousness or
transgression
.
and piety ; 26
An inborn desire to seek the Ultimate Higher Power
• Every earthly passion / love reflects the
eternal love
for any object (or, objective), in fact, one has
for the Creator
•
Observing God’s Creation
cannot provide complete satisfaction in ascertaining the Existence of God. It is partially helpful, of course.
•
Perfect Satisfaction
is provided
by the Direct Revelation from Allah the Exalted
that He
does
exist!
27
Arguments in Support of the Existence of God Almighty
1- [Moses said] Our Lord is He Who gave everything its proper
form
and then guided it to its proper
function
.
2- With Your Lord is the final judgment: The whole system of cause and-effect, in the universe, ends with God Almighty …. . Every cause (which is not ‘primary’) is traceable to some other cause, and so on God Almighty is the Cause of All Causes, i.e., the First Cause .
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3.
4. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day. All of them float smoothly in an orbit. (36:41) [Their Messengers said,] “Are you in doubt concerning Allah—Maker of the Heavens and the Earth?” All that is on earth will pass away. And there will abide forever the Person of thy Lord, Master of Glory and Honor. (55:27-28) 29
False “Gods” — and those who believe in them
Surely those whom you call upon instead of Allah cannot even create a fly, even if they all get together for this purpose. And if the fly should snatch away something from them, they cannot even recover it from it.
Weak indeed are both the seeker and the sought . They have not formed a true concept of the attributes of Allah. Srely, Allah is Powerful, Mighty.
(22:74-75)
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Oneness ( Unique Singularity ) of God
Tauheed
(Oneness of God — belief in the genuine sense — amounts to
Justice
(
Ad’l
) from mankind toward God.
Genuine virtue always resides between two extremes
.
Any habit that pulls you towards the “middle ground”,
genuine moral attribute. leads to a Recognizing the constraints of
time
amounts to a “central tendency”, and
place
(situation and occasion) and it always establishes you upon the “middle ground”. The Truth always resides in the middle position of two falsehoods.
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The Essence of Islamic Teaching: Adopt the “Golden Mean” between two Extreme Positions
Allah has made the Muslim Ummah poised in the middle (i.e. it has been taught by the Holy Qur’an
to avoid both extremes
) in its approach to everything
(Al- Shu’ra:21)
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Spiritual Conditions / States
33
34
35
• O thou soul at peace! Return to thy Lord; thou well-pleased
with Him and
He well-pleased with thee. So, enter thou among my chosen servants. And enter thou my Garden! (89: 28-31) • • •
Spiritual Condition at the “Third Stage”
: These are they he whose hearts Allah has inscribed faith with His Own hand and whom He has helped with the Holy Spirit
(58:23).
Allah has endeared faith to you and has made it to scorn fair to your hearts! And He has made you averse to disbelief, wickedness and disobedience and impressed upon your hearts the viciousness of evil ways. All this has come about through the grace and favor of Allah .
Allah is All-Knowing Wise
(49:8-9).
Truth has arrived and falsehood has vanished, falsehood is bound to disappear
(17:82).
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Spiritual Condition at the “Third Stage”
: • Persistence and Perseverance (
Istiqaamah
) • Complete Self-negation is needed, for finding God.
• Submitting oneself (docilely), like a sacrificial lamb, in front of God 37
• Say, ‘My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are
all
for Allah, the Lord of the world.’
(6:163)
• An ultimate “ joining ” of Man’s Love for God and God’s Love for Man results in a man’s Spiritual Re-birth and God’s new manifestations of power come into play for his sake.
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39
40
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• God the Creator has devised a perfect system of cause-and-effect from God’s perfect cause-and-effect system, the “hard drive” of our soul, which we, ourselves, cannot erase! . Whenever we commit an action (whether good or bad) this action is registered as a “cause” and a corresponding re-action [effect] is generated which “saves” every action on • Thus, we go through daily life, doing good or bad things which continuously “shape” our Record of Life
(“
A’amaal Naamah
”)
and all this is “saved” on the “hard drive” of our soul (so to speak!). • In the Next Life, this Record (which we ourselves had created in the world) is laid bare in front of us and everyone else to see. “Now, read your own record!”, we will be told. Having done it to himself, nobody will be able to blame anyone else, except himself! It is too embarrassing to even think about that situation.
• People who have created a “bad record” for themselves in their lifetime, do have some idea of what they will be up against, in the Next Life . Those who were “ blind ” to the need to create a “good record” for the Next Life, they will enter the Next Life, unable to find their way around —stumbling blindly, and hurting themselves with every move . The virtuous people will, similarly, have, in this lifetime, a “sneak preview” of their Next Life of reward.
42
•
Faith
and “
Actions
that are
Appropriate to the Occasion
” • An
Analogy
: Relationship between a
Garden
and its
Irrigating Canal
. • •
Faith
= Garden • Without “Appropriate Actions”, nobody’s state of Faith can survive.
Islam Appropriate Actions
= Canal stresses the role of Appropriate Actions (as opposed to some other religions) 43
Question No. 2
44
45
46
1.
What Happens in the Next Life?
The Hereafter is not something completely new. Rather, its explicit scenes and experiences are simply the images and reflections of what we do in this world. 47
2. But, the spirit of our actions in this world (that was implicit) will be given
an explicit form
in the scenes and experiences of the Hereafter. The
Holy Qur’an
says: “Whoever is ‘ blind ’ in this world will be blind even more astray from the way
(
i.e.
in the Hereafter, or
even worse off)
. (17:73) 3.
Progress, in the life of the Hereafter, will be unlimited (without any bounds) 48
Question No. 3
49
Purpose of Human Life and How to Achieve it?
Scope of
Worship
1- Identifying / Recognizing God 2- Perceiving (Experiencing) God 3- Emulating (copying the attributes of ) God 4- Full Devotion to ( losing one’s own “self” in ) God
Islam:
Teachings and Code of Conduct 50
How to
“ Correctly ” Identify / Recognize
God Almighty?
1.
Praying
to a self styled “God” — Searching for Him and Calling Him for Help ….
No Response!
Wishing
does
not
achieve the
fulfillment of desire
If you do
not
pray to
the One and Only TRUE GOD,
all your prayers go to waste!
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2.
Learning about, and being attracted to,
God’s Beauty (a) (c)
Oneness
(b)
Greatness / Immensity Exaltedness
(d)
All other Divine Attributes Internalizing a
“Most Lovable God”
Holy Qur’an) (known through Divine Attributes, in the 52
3.
God’s
Benefaction
(
Eh’saan
) — summarized in
Surah Al-Fatihah
Creating us out of “nothingness” Continuous life-sustaining support / development Countless acts of mercy (
Rahmat
) Boundless benefaction (
Eh’saan
) — it defies measurement or estimate 53
54
4
-
Prayer ( Du’a):
Man must learn to recognize how he achieved something not due to his own (God-granted) powers but, ultimately, as a result of God’s Powers.
5
-
Struggle / Endeavor (Mujaahida):
Spending in the Cause of Allah :
(a) (d)
wealth
(b)
skills
time
(c)
mental faculties (in everyday life)
(e)
time
(whole lifetime)
6
-
Persistence / Perseverance ( Iss’tiqaamat):
Not getting
(a)
left-behind
(b)
discouraged, or
(c)
tired, of devotion to God.
55
7
-
Companionship with the pious people ( Soh’bat-e-Saadiqeen);
Keeping a “model” in sight, for inspiration ; this also proves the need for the continuation of Prophethood
8
-
Revelation from God; true visions / dreams
etc. Occasional
“reassuring travel-advisories / information bulletins” from God
:
I am with you. Press on ahead …!
56
Question No. 4
57
58
59
Question No. 5
60
61
62
63
1.
Three Levels of Human Knowledge
Reasoning-based Certainty of Knowledge [
Ilm-ul-Yaqeen
]
2.
Visually-based Certainty of Knowledge [
Ay’en-ul-Yaqeen
]
3.
Experience-based Certainty of Knowledge
[
Haqq-ul-Yaqeen
]
64